WWE's Tough Enough program - a reality show wherein contestants (some with prior professional wrestling training and others without) compete for a WWE talent contract, if you weren't aware - originally aired in 2001 and enjoyed success across four seasons and multiple networks before being put on hiatus. The show was a launching pad for several well known WWE Superstars including such names as The Miz and John Morrison, and what's more it gave true hope to aspiring wrestlers who perform in slummy venues for crooked promoters that the day might come when they too would have a chance to show off their skills, perhaps to earn their way onto the WWE roster. It was a great concept that came around at the right moment as reality programming was all the rage in the United States at the time. So, naturally, when WWE announced earlier this year that they were bringing Tough Enough back, fans and wrestlers alike took notice with many sending in audition tapes praying that their submission might be enough to draw the interest of the biggest professional wrestling company on the planet.
The cast of the 2011 edition of WWE Tough Enough wound up consisting of 14 individuals with some interesting backgrounds as they relate to wrestling and television. From the research I've conducted (i.e., I Google'd it), it appears as though only one member of the cast had no prior wrestling experience and had never been on a reality show previously (Ariane Andrew, who has been famously quoted as stating her favorite wrestling match of all time - yes, OF ALL TIME - is Alicia Fox vs. Melina). Of the remaining 13 cast-mates, 7 had training and exposure to the independent professional wrestling scene, 3 had been on TV as part of other programs (Michelle Deighton, "America's Next Top Model"; Rima Fakih, Miss USA pageant; Jeremiah Riggs, "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest" ), and 3 had spent some length of time as members of the Florida Championship Wrestling roster.
This last grouping is the one that leads me to my original point of the show having been rigged all along. FCW is the official developmental territory of WWE. To put it in baseball terminology, FCW is the farm system of WWE. It is where wrestlers with the potential for possibly being worthy of putting onto one of the company's weekly programs are brought for further training and evaluation. (Signing on with FCW does not guarantee a shot at the big-time as many talents have gotten developmental deals only to be let go later on.) They are signed to exclusive contracts (meaning they can't work for any other promotion) and are paid by WWE, just like their colleagues on WWE's main roster.
All this having been said, wouldn't you think it might be a little bit mischievous on the part of WWE to select someone who was technically already one of their employees as the winner of a contest like Tough Enough? Because that's exactly what they did - meet Andrew Leavine, previously known as FCW talent Kevin Hackman.
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| He fell into a vat of baby oil the day the picture at left was taken, I'm guessing... |
Leavine signed on with FCW around August of 2010 and spent several months with the promotion working under the Kevin Hackman gimmick (the image above is a screen capture of his wrestler profile on FCW's website which was removed after his termination but still visible thanks to how Google caches web pages). He was involved with a handful of matches but from what I've been able to tell he was never the recipient of a significant push. Then in February of this year he was released from his contract with FCW - filming for Tough Enough 2011 began that same month.
Andy, as he was known on Tough Enough, was your typical uninteresting, fly below the radar member of a reality show cast; never once did he raise a ruckus or do anything that would make the audience dislike him as he was billed as the family man who was taking this opportunity seriously (he went so far as to declare himself as being straight edge while on the show) in order to give his wife and kids a better life. He came off as being somewhat bland even though he'd given himself the gimmick of "Silent Rage" and didn't appear to be all that comfortable when confronted with the chance to speak for himself before the show's judges (there were several other members of the cast who excelled in that particular area of performance). What he may have lacked in terms of presence or charisma he made up for with his size and physical gifts as the 6'5" former collegiate offensive lineman is a true athlete. Despite his flaws and having been put into the bottom-three ranking contestants the final two weeks of the show, Leavine would be declared the ultimate winner of Tough Enough 2011.
Noticeable during the final episode of the show was the fact that Andy appeared to have been living in a gym from the point in time that he and the other contestants left the training facility where the bulk of the program had been filmed. By contrast, Luke Robinson - the eventual runner-up to Leavine - looked to have actually lost a fair amount of muscle tone and conditioning in the gap between principal photography and the finale. Consider that Andy was already living in Florida when this series began. He might not have had a developmental contract with WWE at that point, however I somehow doubt that he would've been denied access to FCW's facilities and staff. Not to say that Luke couldn't have gone home to Maine and engorged himself on a diet of cheeseburgers and beer, but to say that the deck wasn't stacked against him would be misguided.
Injuries happen in wrestling, unfortunately, and several of the top contenders from this season of Tough Enough were taken out of action due to mishaps in the ring. Had those injuries not happened, I sincerely believe the outcome of the show would've been different. That said, the concept of a ringer or plant on a show like Tough Enough who could be something of a contingency plan shouldn't have shocked me the way it did when I found out that Andy was essentially already on his way to becoming a WWE Superstar. This is the world of professional wrestling we're talking about, after all, meaning that if there was ever a scenario where a likely winner was chosen before the starting bell had even been rung it would be this one. Which makes me wonder, should this actually bother me? Should I care that something as trivial as a TV show turned out the way it did?
I've watched a great many young talents come through the Carolinas who are at least as talented as anyone who was on Tough Enough 2011, if not more so. In my heart of hearts, I wanted this show to be an example of how dream fulfillment is still possible with hard work and a little luck on your side. As it turns out, it was more of a slap in the face to every independent wrestler and a whole bunch of wishful thinkers who took the time to put together submission materials to get onto the show, daring to believe even for a moment that they might actually have a chance at participating, much less winning this contest. With any luck this show will be cancelled, again, hopefully for good this time.
